Virtual media with folder-mount function and graphical user interface for mounting one or more files or folders

ABSTRACT

A graphical user interface used in a virtual media system for allowing a server computer to access objects (files and folders) on storage devices of a client computer. The server is controlled by input signals from the client. The desktop of the client displays a first file management window showing objects on the storage devices, and a second window representing a desktop of the server. Using input devices connected to the client, a user selects objects in the first window and drags and drops them on the second window. In response, the client performs a virtual media mounting process to present the selected objects to the server as objects on a local drive of the server, without presenting any unselected content on the storage devices. The local drive is shown in the second window on the client&#39;s desktop to allow the user to explore its content.

This is a continuation-in-part application under 35 USC §120 of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/503,814, filed Jul. 15, 2009, nowpending, and of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/105,067, filed Dec.12, 2013, now pending, which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a virtual media system, such as virtual mediain an IKVM (KVM-Over-IP) system. In particular, it relates to agraphical user interface for mounting one or more files or folders in avirtual media system with folder-mount function.

2. Description of the Related Art

A KVM (keyboard video mouse) switch is a device that allows one or moreuser consoles to selectively communicate with one or more computersconnected to the KVM switch as if the user console is directly pluggedinto the computer. In a conventional KVM switch configuration, one ormore consoles (each including a keyboard and/or mouse and a displaydevice) are connected to the KVM switch by cables, and a plurality ofcomputers are connected to the KVM switch by cables. A network-enabledKVM switch (also referred to as a network-based or IP-based KVM, IKVM,or KVM over IP) uses a network protocol (e.g. TCP/IP) as itscommunication protocol, and can be accessed from any computer on anetwork (such as the Internet, an Intranet, a WAN, a LAN, Ethernet, awireless network, etc.) A remote operator can log in to an IKVM switchfrom anywhere on the network via a browser, and can exchange keyboard,video and mouse signals with any one of the computers connected to theIKVM switch. An IKVM switch has a controller, referred to as an IKVMcontroller, which is connected to a controller/circuit/chip (NIC) forhandling packets containing keyboard and mouse signals received from aremote console on a network, and transmits packets containing videosignals and other signals to the network via the NIC.

Virtual media is a technology for sharing files in a system comprisingtwo computers connected via a network such as the Internet, so that astorage device physically connected to the first computer can beaccessed by the second computer as if the storage device is located onthe second computer. Virtual media technology has been used in KVMswitch systems where a client computer accesses an IKVM switch via anetwork to control a server computer connected to the IKVM switch. Usingthe virtual media technology, a storage device physically connected tothe client computer can be presented to the server computer as virtualmedia.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,260,624 describes a system where a localcomputer 102 and a remote computer 120 are connected via a network 118,with an interaction device 110 connected between the local computer andthe network. The patent describes: “In addition to receiving user input,the interaction device 110 may also provide for additional interactionwith the remote computer 120 by providing a USB connection to a USB port109 of the local computer 102. The USB connection allows the interactiondevice 110 to emulate USB devices for the local computer 102, such asadditional storage devices including devices that the local computer 102may use when booting-up. For example, the remote computer 120 mayprovide a floppy, CD-ROM, or hard disk drive that contains a boot-upsequence to be used by the local computer 102. Upon a connection beingestablished over the network 118 between the interaction device 110 andremote computer 120, the local computer 102 may boot from a media sourceof the remote computer 120 with the boot-up sequence provided throughthe USB port 109.” (Col. 5, lines 27-41.)

In another example, U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2007/0174526, entitled“Virtual media system, method and devices”, describes a KVM system whichprovides for USB devices to be accessed by target computers: “A KVMswitch connects a client with a target server via a network, the clientcomputer having at least one device attached thereto. A second mechanismconnects to a USB port of the target and communicates with the targetusing a USB protocol. A client mechanism communicates with the secondmechanism via the network. A virtual media mechanism enables the targetserver to access the USB device attached to the client.” (Abstract.)This method allows a physical storage device attached to the clientcomputer, such as a floppy drive, CD drive, removeable disk, etc. to bemapped as a virtual drive on the target computer. (See, e.g., FIG. 6( c)and paragraphs [0267]-[0270] of this publication.)

For consistency, in this disclosure, the computer to which the storagedevice is physically attached is referred to as the client computer orclient, and the computer to which the storage device is mapped as avirtual medium is referred to as the server computer or server.

Conventional virtual media methods only allow an entire physical storagedevice (or possibly a logical drive if the storage device ispartitioned) to be mapped as a virtual drive on the server. This method,referred to herein as disk-mount, has many disadvantages, such as poorreliability and poor security. For example, the content of the entirestorage device (or drive) would be accessible to the server, so theclient is unable to protect the confidentiality and security of contentson the storage device. Further, when write-back function is implementedin a disk-mounted system, when an error occurs during a write operation,such as an error due to network transmission, there is a risk ofcrashing the storage device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Graphical user interfaces have been used in a virtual media system toallow the user to select a storage device (i.e. a drive) on the clientand issue a mount command to mount the drive on the server. Aconventional graphical user interface for this purpose typicallyrequires multiple steps to achieve the mounting function. Such a userinterface can be cumbersome to use, especially in a VM system (describedin detail in this disclosure) where the VM mounting method allows theuser to mount multiple files or folders on the server at once.

The present invention is directed to a virtual media method andapparatus in an IKVM system that substantially obviates one or more ofthe problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide a user-friendlygraphical user interface (GUI) useful in a virtual media system thatsupports folder-mount functions, including multiple-folder-mount.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe descriptions that follow and in part will be apparent from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Theobjectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized andattained by the structure particularly pointed out in the writtendescription and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purposeof the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the presentinvention provides a virtual media operation method implemented in aclient computer for allowing a server computer to access one or morestorage devices of the client computer, which includes: (a) controlling,via a network, a virtual media access control module which is connectedto a USB port of the server computer; (b) controlling the servercomputer via the virtual media access control module; (c) displaying afirst window on a desktop of the client computer, the first windowcontaining one or more objects; (d) receiving a user input, whicheffects a selection of one or more objects in the first window and adrag-and-drop operation of the selected objects, wherein thedrag-and-drop operation drags the selected objects from the first windowand drops them onto a representation of the server computer displayed onthe desktop of the client computer; (e) in response to the user input,generating a virtual media file system to present the selected objectsto the server computer as objects on a local removable drive of theserver computer, without presenting other unselected contents of the oneor more storage devices to the server computer, and displaying on thedesktop of the client computer a second window representing a desktop ofthe server computer, the second window containing a representation ofthe local removable drive which contains the objects; and (f) allowingthe server computer to access the selected objects on the clientcomputer using the second window.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a virtual mediaoperation method implemented in a client computer for allowing a servercomputer to access one or more storage devices of the client computer,which includes: (a) controlling, via a network, a virtual media accesscontrol module which is connected to a USB port of the server computer;(b) controlling the server computer via the virtual media access controlmodule; (c) displaying a first window on a desktop of the clientcomputer, the first window containing one or more objects; (d) receivinga first user input which effects a selection of one or more objects inthe first window; (e) receiving a second user input which is a virtualmedia mount command for mounting the objects selected in step (d) on theserver computer; (f) in response to the second user input, generating avirtual media file system to present the selected objects to the servercomputer as objects on a local removable drive of the server computer,without presenting other unselected contents of the one or more storagedevices to the server computer, and displaying on the desktop of theclient computer a second window representing a desktop of the servercomputer, the second window containing a representation of the localremovable drive which contains the objects; and (g) allowing the servercomputer to access the selected objects on the client computer using thesecond window.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a computer programproduct comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readableprogram code embedded therein for controlling a client computer, thecomputer readable program code configured to cause the client computerto execute the above process for presenting one of the folders to aserver to be accessed as a virtual drive.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and areintended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an IKVM system with virtual media capabilitiesaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 a schematically illustrates an exemplary FAT table in aconventional file system

FIG. 2 b schematically illustrates the clusters and their content in anexemplary conventional file system.

FIG. 2 c schematically illustrates the file system including variousregions in a conventional file system.

FIG. 3 a schematically illustrates the virtual media file systemincluding various regions according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 b schematically illustrates an exemplary virtual media FAT tableaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 c schematically illustrates an exemplary file-cluster index tableaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 d schematically illustrates an exemplary dirty sector index tableaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a mounting process for virtual mediafolder mount according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a virtual media access process for afolder mounted virtual media according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a read sector function for a foldermounted virtual media according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a write sector function for a foldermounted virtual media according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates a write-back function for a foldermounted virtual media according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 a schematically illustrates a part of a write-back function for amultiple-folder mounted virtual media according to a further embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the command and data transmittedbetween various components of the system of FIG. 1 during virtual mediaaccess.

FIG. 10 illustrates an IKVM system with virtual media capabilitiesaccording to the further embodiment of the present invention, wheremultiple folders can be selectively mounted.

FIG. 11 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) for initiatingvirtual media mounting according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 illustrates another GUI for initiating virtual media mountingaccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As required, a detailed illustrative embodiment of the present inventionis disclosed herein. However, techniques, systems and operatingstructures in accordance with the present invention may be embodied in awide variety of forms and modes, some of which may be quite differentfrom those in the disclosed embodiment. Consequently, the specificstructural and functional details disclosed herein are merelyrepresentative, yet in that regard, they are deemed to afford the bestembodiment for purposes of disclosure and to provide a basis for theclaims herein, which define the scope of the present invention. Thefollowing presents a detailed description of the preferred embodiment(as well as some alternative embodiments) of the present invention.

A virtual media system with folder mount function for mounting one ormultiple folders on a server, including implementation details, isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1-10. This subject matter is presentedin the parent applications, U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/503,814and 14/105,067. A graphical user interface for allowing the user toeasily mount one or multiple folders is described with reference toFIGS. 11-12.

FIG. 1 illustrates an IKVM system with virtual media capabilities. Aclient computer 10 is connected to an IKVM switch 20 via a network 100.The network 100 is typically the Internet, but it may also be a LAN,WAN, or any other suitable type of network. The client computer 10 andthe IKVM switch 20 communicate over the network 100 using a suitablecommunication protocol such as TCP/IP. A plurality of server computers40 (only one is shown) are connected to the IKVM switch 20 viarespective computer modules 30 (only one is shown). In one embodiment,each computer module 30 is connected to the IKVM switch 20 by a Cat5cable; each computer module 30 has short cables with connectors fordirectly plugging into the relevant ports of the server computer 40,such as a monitor port for video signals, keyboard and/or mouse port(s)for keyboard and/or mouse signals, and a USB port for data transmission.The computer module 30 communicates with the IKVM switch 20 using aninternal communication protocol. Data transfer between the computermodule 30 and the server computer 40 is done using a suitable standardprotocol such as the USB protocol.

Alternatively (not shown in FIG. 1), the computer modules 30 are notprovided, and their functions are integrated into the IKVM switch 20. Inthis alternative configuration, the server computers 40 are connecteddirectly to the IKVM switch 20 by short cables.

The client computer 10 is connected to a set of user interface devices15 which include, for example, a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. Thekeyboard and mouse signals and the video signals are transmitted betweenthe user interface devices 15 and the server computer 40 via the IKVMswitch 20 and computer module 30 in a manner well known in the IKVM artand will not be described in more detail here. The IKVM software 11 ofthe client computer, along with suitable hardware/firmware of the IKVMswitch 20 and the computer module 30, perform the function of processingand transmitting the keyboard, mouse and video signals.

The client computer 10 has attached to it a storage device 14, such as ahard disk drive (HDD), a CD/DVD ROM, a flash drive, a floppy disk drive,etc. The storage device 14 may be physically a part of the clientcomputer 10 (such as an internal hard disk), or may be plugged into theclient computer (such as a USB flash drive) or connected to the clientcomputer by a short cable (such as an external hard disk). The clientcomputer 10 may be connected to the storage device 14 by any suitablecommunication interfaces such as SCSI, IDE, USB, etc. The storage device14 may be partitioned into multiple logical drives each having its driveletter. As described in more detail later, the storage device may alsobe a network-shared folder.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the client computer10 can present the contents of a folder on the storage device 14 to theserver computer 40 as a virtual storage device, shown as virtual media42 in FIG. 1. In other words, although only the content of one folder onthe storage device 14 is presented to the server computer 10 for access(read and/or write), to the server computer 40, it appears that astorage device (virtual media 42) containing these contents is attachedto the server computer 40 (i.e. it appears as a local drive of theserver computer 40). The other contents of the storage device 14 (otherthan the folder) are inaccessible to the server computer through thevirtual media. For convenience, this is referred to as folder-mount, asopposed to the conventional disk-mount technology. The folder to bepresented to the server computer 40 may include subfolders, and mayitself be a subfolder of another folder on the storage device 14.

The folder-mount function of the present invention is primarilyimplemented by a virtual media management software module 12 executed bythe client computer 10. The virtual media management software module 12may be a software module of the KVM management software 11 of the clientcomputer 10, or it may be a separate software program. The folder-mountmethod is described now with reference to FIGS. 2 a-9.

According to a conventional FAT (File Allocation Table) file system,each drive of the storage medium is divided into multiple sectors, whereeach sector is typically 512 bytes in size. A predetermined number ofsectors (e.g., 2, 4, 8, 16, etc.) form a cluster. Each file is stored inone or more clusters depending on the file size, where the clusters arenot necessarily continuous. A File Allocation Table (FAT, also calledFAT table) is provided to record which clusters (and their order) eachfile is stored in. A FAT table can be viewed as a two-column table,where the first column contains the cluster index (from the first to thelast cluster of the drive), and the second column (the FAT entries)indicate, for each cluster index, which cluster stores the next fragmentof the file. For example, in the exemplary FAT table shown in FIG. 2 a,the FAT entry for cluster #2 is 4, indicating that cluster #4 stores thenext fragment of the file after cluster #2. Thus, this exemplary FATtable indicates that a file is stored in clusters #2, #4, #6 and #7 inthat order (“EOC” indicates that cluster #7 is the last cluster for thisfile); and another file is stored in clusters #3 and #5 in that order.FIG. 2 b schematically shows the clusters and their content in anexample corresponding to FIG. 2 a.

Note that the “file” in the above description more generally refers to adirectory entry, which may be a data file or a subdirectory. The term“file” may be used in the disclosure to refer to either a data file or adirectory entry when its meaning is clear from the context.

The starting cluster of each directory entry is stored in the rootdirectory (for files and subdirectories in the root folder) or asubdirectory (for files and subdirectories in subfolders). In addition,the root directory or the subdirectory stores the properties of eachfile, such as file name, size, time of creation, time of lastmodification, attributes, etc. In the FAT file system, a directory (orfile container) is a regular file that has a special attributeindicating it is a directory. Note that some file systems do not have aroot directory region, and the root directory is stored in the file anddirectory data region.

FIG. 2 c illustrates the content of a drive, which includes a reservedregion, a FAT region storing a FAT table, a root directory region, and afile and directory data region. The file and directory data regionincludes the clusters that stored the data of the files (includingdirectories, which are stored as files). The management of the filesystem is carried out by the operating system (OS) of the computer. Thereader is assumed to be familiar with the conventional FAT file system.

To accomplish folder-mount, the client computer 10 (the virtual mediamanagement software 12) creates a virtual media (VM) file system for thevirtual media, which is a structure that simulates a file system. Thevirtual media file system includes virtual media reserved region,virtual media FAT region, a virtual media root directory region, and avirtual media file and directory data region, as schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 3 a. The data in all of these regions comply withthe FAT file system standard. The VM reserved region stores the sametypes of information of the reserved region of a normal drive. The VMroot directory region stores a root directory which contains thestarting virtual cluster indices for the files or subdirectories of thefolder to be mounted (referred to hereinafter as the source folder). TheVM file and directory data region includes clusters that store allsubdirectories of the source folder; it does not include any clustersthat store the actual data content of the regular files that are notsubdirectories. As a result, the VM file system does not occupy a largespace on the storage device, and is fast to create. Note that likeconventional file systems, the VM root directory region is not necessaryand the root directory may be stored in the VM file and directory dataregion.

The VM FAT region stores a VM FAT table which has a format complyingwith the normal FAT table format, but only contains files andsubdirectories within the source folder. More specifically, the VM FATtable is a two-column table, where the first column contains the virtualcluster index (from the first to the last virtual cluster of the virtualdrive), and the second column (the FAT entries) indicate, for eachvirtual cluster index, which virtual cluster stores the next fragment ofthe file. The clusters of the virtual drive are referred to as virtualclusters here because they do not actually exist on the storage device.FIG. 3 b illustrates an exemplary VM FAT table.

Note that the last virtual cluster index is M, which is determined bythe size of the virtual drive. In other words, the virtual clusterindices assigned to the files in the source folder all fall within thesize of the virtual drive. The size of the virtual drive is smaller,typically much smaller, than the value N in FIG. 2 a. The size of thevirtual drive can be any value defined by the operator during themounting process. The defined size of virtual drive is equal to orsmaller than the size of the actual drive; typically, it is much smallerthan the actual drive. For example, the actual drive may be 60 GB insize, and the virtual drive may be 1 GB in size. Further, the size ofthe virtual drive should be defined such that the amount of free spaceon the virtual drive is smaller than the amount of actual free space onthe actual drive.

The VM FAT table is generated by client computer 10 when mounting thefolder. The client computer 10 cannot simply copy the FAT table of theactual drive because in the VM FAT table, all files must be “stored” invirtual clusters 1 to M, whereas on the actual drive, a file within thesource folder could be stored in a cluster having an index greater thanM. When generating the VM FAT table, the client computer 10 gathers allthe files in the source folder, assigns virtual clusters to the files(the number of virtual clusters assigned to each file depends on itssize, e.g. how many actual clusters are used to store it), and recordthe virtual cluster indices in the VM FAT table. Preferably, the virtualclusters are assigned such that the files occupy continuous virtualclusters, as in the example shown in FIG. 3 b; but the files may also beassigned non-continuous virtual clusters. The starting virtual clusterindex of each file is store in the root directory or the subdirectory ina similar manner as in a normal (conventional) file system.

To the server computer 40, the VM reserved region, VM FAT region and VMroot directory appear to be the corresponding components of an actualdrive, and the server computer 40 uses these data to manage and accessthe virtual drive. All sectors of the virtual drive can be modified bythe server computer when accessing the virtual drive as described inmore detail later.

In addition to the VM file system, the client computer also generates afile-cluster index table during the folder mounting process. Thefile-cluster index table stores, for each file and subfolder in thesource folder, its filename and path in the actual file system of theactual drive, its file properties, and the virtual clusters assigned toit. That is, the file-cluster index table indicates a correspondingrelationship between the physical file system and the virtual filesystem. FIG. 3 c illustrates an exemplary file-cluster index table. Ifthe files are assigned continuous virtual cluster during mounting, thenthe virtual clusters assigned to the file can be represented by a startvirtual cluster index and an end virtual cluster index, as in theexample shown in FIG. 3 c. If the files are assigned discontinuousvirtual clusters, then the virtual clusters will be represented by anordered list of the virtual clusters. The file-cluster index table iscreated at the time of mounting, and is not modified when the serveraccesses the virtual drive. Therefore, it preserves the state of the VMfile system at the time of mounting, and will be used during virtualmedia access and during the un-mounting process as will be described inmore detail later.

During virtual media access, the client computer 10 uses a temporarydata area to store data that is written to the virtual drive by theserver computer. The file data stored in clusters/sectors of the actualfile system are not modified during the VM access process; rather, thesectors of the actual file system that are requested to be modified bythe server during VM access are deemed “dirty sectors”, and the dataintended for these sectors are stored in temporary sectors in thetemporary data area. The client computer 10 maintains a dirty sectorindex table which stores a list of the dirty sectors and thecorresponding temporary sectors in the temporary data area. Asschematically illustrated in FIG. 3 d, the dirty sector index table maybe considered a two-column table, where the first column stores thesector numbers of the dirty sectors in the virtual drive (i.e. theirvirtual sector numbers), and the second column stores the sectorpositions of the corresponding temporary sectors in the temporary dataarea. The dirty sector index table is gradually built up during virtualmedia access when the server 40 writes to the virtual drive. For example(see FIG. 3 d), when the server writes to sector 6 of the virtual drive,the client 10 writes the data in sector 1 (position 1) of the temporarydata area without modifying the actual sector of the actual file system,records the dirty sector number in virtual drive (6) in the first columnof the dirty sector index table, and records the corresponding positionof temporary data area (1) in the second column of the dirty sectorindex table.

The dirty sector index table is necessary when the virtual media ismounted to allow a write function. If write is not allowed, the dirtysector index table is not necessary and the client will not store anydata in temporary sectors.

The temporary data area is preferably a physical area of the actualdrive. Alternatively, if the amount of data in the temporary data areais sufficiently small, the temporary data area may be in the RAM of theclient computer 10.

Note that in a FAT system, read and write commands are typically forreading and writing a sector, rather than a cluster. In a storage drive(an actual drive), cluster indices and sector numbers are related toeach other by a standard formula which depends on the number of sectorsper cluster. In preferred embodiments of the present invention, themodified data are managed on a sector basis, rather than a clusterbasis. Thus, sectors, not clusters, are deemed dirty or not dirty. Ofcourse, it is also possible to manage modified data on a cluster basis,but this is less efficient in terms of the use of space.

FIGS. 4-8 schematically illustrate the folder mounting and virtual mediaaccess process. The steps in FIGS. 4-8 are performed by the Virtualmedia management software 12 of the client computer 10. FIG. 4 shows themounting process. In step S401, the user at the client computer 10initiates a virtual media folder mounting process. This may beaccomplished by a suitable user interface tool which allows the user toselect which folder of the storage device 14 (the source folder) is tobe mounted on the server computer 40 as virtual media and to issue amount command. The client computer 10 gathers information about thesource folder and its content from the actual file system 405 (stepS402), and analyzes the gathered information to generate the VM FATtable, VM root directory, VM subdirectories, and the file-cluster indextable (step S403). The information gathered in step S402 includes allinformation needed to generate the VM FAT etc., for example, filenameand path of the files in the actual file system (to generate thefile-cluster index table), sizes of the file in number of clusters (toassign virtual clusters to the files and generate the VM FAT table),subdirectories (to generate the directory data in the VM file system),etc. The VM FAT table, VM root directory, VM subdirectories, and thefile-cluster index table are stored in an area 406 of the storage device14.

Then, the client computer executes the virtual media access functions(step S404), during which the client computer reads data from the actualfile system 405, obtains information from the VM FAT table, directories,file-cluster index table, etc. 406 that were generated in step S403,reads and writes data in temporary sectors in the temporary data area407, and reads and writes data in the dirty sectors index table 408.During the VM access functions, the client computer receives virtualmedia I/O commands 409 from the server computer 40 (via the computermodule 30 and the IKVM switch 20), and responds to the I/O commands.This VM access functions are show in more detail in FIGS. 5-8.

FIG. 5 illustrates an overall process of the VM access functions. First,the client computer 10 cooperates with the IKVM switch 20 and thecomputer module 30 to announce the virtual media to the server computer40 (step S501). For example, if the virtual media is presented as a USBmass storage device, the computer module 30 (also referred to as aserver control module) emulates a USB mass storage device. This step maybe similar to the corresponding step in a conventional virtual mediamethod and is not explain in further detail here. As a result of thisstep, the virtual media will appear as a storage drive on the servercomputer. Thereafter, the server computer can read, write, and performother function to the storage drive as if it is a normal drive. Theforms of the communication commands between various components aredescribed in more detail later with reference to FIG. 9.

When the client receives a command (step S502), the command may be anI/O command from the server computer 40 or a command from the user ofthe client computer 10. If the command is a read sector commend form theserver computer (“Y” in step S503), the client performs a read sectorfunction (step S504, shown in more detail in FIG. 6). If the command isa write sector commend form the server computer (“Y” in step S505), theclient computer performs a write sector function (step S506, shown inmore detail in FIG. 7).

The command received in step S502 may be a virtual media access stopcommand. The stop command may be received from the client computer 10itself; for example, the user at the client computer may issue a VM stopcommand. The stop command may also be received from the server computer40; for example, the server computer may “remove” the media using an OSoperation. When a stop command is received (“Y” in step S507), theclient computer 10 communicate with the server computer 40 to disconnectthe virtual media, i.e., “remove” it from the server 40 (step S508).This step may be similar to the corresponding steps in a conventionalvirtual media method and is not explain in further detail here. Afterremoving the virtual media from the server computer 40, the clientcomputer 10 executes a write-back function to write the data stored inthe temporary data area to the files in the actual file system and/or todelete files from the actual file system as appropriate (step S509,shown in more detail in FIG. 8).

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates the read sector function (step S504 inFIG. 5). Note that the sector number in the read sector command from theserver computer is the virtual sector number in the virtual drive.First, the client computer determines whether the virtual sector is inthe dirty sector index table by looking up the dirty sector index table(step S601). A virtual sector will be in the dirty sector index table ifit has been previously modified by the server computer and has beenstored as a temporary sector in the temporary data area (described inmore detail in FIG. 7). If the virtual sector is in the dirty sectorindex table (“Y” in step S601), the client computer obtains the positionof the temporary sector in the temporary data area that corresponds tothe dirty sector by using the dirty sector index table (see FIG. 3 d),and reads the temporary sector from the temporary data area at thatposition (step S602).

If the virtual sector is not in the dirty sector index table (“N” instep S601), the client computer converts the virtual sector number to avirtual cluster index (step S603). This conversion step uses aconversion formula for the virtual drive, which is similar in nature toa conversion formula for a normal drive. The conversion also determinesthe place (i.e. the offset) of the sector within that virtual cluster.Then, the client computer determines whether the converted virtualcluster is in the VM reserved region or the VM FAT region of the virtualdrive (step S604). If it is (“Y” in step S604), the client computerreads the sector in the VM reserved region or the VM FAT region (stepS605). If not (“N” in step S604), the client computer determines whetherthe virtual cluster is in the VM directory area of the virtual drive(step S606). The directory area here includes the VM root directoryregion and the subdirectories in the VM File and directory data region(refer to FIG. 3 a). If the virtual cluster is in the VM directory area(“Y” in step S606), the client computer reads the sector in the VMdirectory area (step S607). If not (“N” in step S606), the clientcomputer determines whether the virtual cluster belongs to an originalfile in the actual file system (step S608).

Step S608 is carried out by using the file-cluster index table (see FIG.3 c). At this point, it has been determined that the virtual sector isnot in the dirty sector index table (i.e. it is not dirty), so the datafor this sector is not stored in the temporary data area and must beobtained from the original file in the actual file system. Thus, in stepS608, the client uses the virtual cluster index (obtained in step S603)and looks up the file-cluster index table to determine which file thisvirtual cluster is assigned to. By looking up the file-cluster indextable, the client computer determines the filename and path of the filein the actual file system, as well as the place of this virtual clusterin the sequence of virtual clusters assigned to the file (e.g. it is thei-th cluster of the file). As mentioned before, the file-cluster indextable may store the start and end virtual cluster index for each file,or it may store an ordered list of all virtual clusters assigned to eachfile. Either way, the client computer is able to determine the place ofthis cluster in the file. In addition, based on the offset of therequested sector within the virtual cluster (e.g., the sector is thej-th sector of that virtual cluster, see step S603), the client computerdetermines the offset of the sector within the file (e.g., the sector isthe k-th sector of the file). Using the filename and path, as well asthe offset of the sector in the file, the client computer issues a readcommand to the client's operating system to read the specified sector ofthe specified file (step S609). The OS responds to the read command in aconventional manner to read the requested data of the sector and pass itto the virtual media management software 12.

After steps S602, S605, S607 and S609, the client computer 10 transmitsthe data read in these steps to the server computer 40 via the network(step S610).

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates the write sector function (step S506 inFIG. 5). Note that the sector number in the write sector command fromthe server computer is the virtual sector number in the virtual drive.First, the client computer determines whether the virtual sector is inthe dirty sector index table by looking up the dirty sector index table(step S701). If it is (“Y” in step S701), the client computer obtainsthe position of the temporary sector in the temporary data area thatcorresponds to the dirty sector by using the dirty sector index table(see FIG. 3 d) (step S702). If the virtual sector is not in the dirtysector index table (“N” in step S701), the client computer adds thevirtual sector number into the dirty sector index table and assigns toit a position of an unused sector in the temporary data area (stepS703). After steps S702 and S703, the client computer moves the writepointer to that position of the temporary data area and writes the datafrom the server to the temporary sector at that position (step S704).

It should be noted that during the time the source folder is mounted asa virtual drive, the operating system of the server computer 40 managesthe virtual drive as if managing an actual drive. For example, if theserver computer creates a new file on the virtual drive, the server's OSwill assign virtual cluster numbers to the new file, and will modify thevirtual FAT table accordingly via a write command. Thus, at the client'send, the virtual media management software 12 only needs to manage thewrite commands from the server computer as describe above.

As a result of the VM write function, the server computer 40 may createnew subfolders under the source folder, create new data files in thesource folder, modify existing data files, modifying the properties ofdata files and folders or subfolders, etc. Further, the VM FAT table andthe subdirectory entries may also be modified. All of the changes arestored in the temporary data area without changing the sectors/clustersof the actual file system or the VM file system created at the time ofmounting. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the single-directional arrow fromthe “VM FAT, directories, file-cluster index table” 406 to the “Virtualmedia access functions” S404 indicates that the data in 406 is notmodified during VM access.

FIG. 8 schematically illustrates the write-back function (step S509 inFIG. 5). First, the client obtains all the directory entries of VM rootdirectory (step S801). In the root directory region, each directoryentry (which may be a file or a directory) has a predefined length ofdata, such as 32 bytes, and includes information such as name,properties, and initial cluster index for the file or directory, etc.Note that a file with a long file name may use several directory entriesto store the above information. For each entry, the client computerobtains the above information (name, properties, initial cluster number,etc.) of the entry, and analyzes the VM FAT table to obtain all of theVM cluster indices for the entry (step S802).

It should be noted that during the VM access, the server computer mayhave altered the VM root directory region, the VM FAT region and thedirectories in the VM file and directory region; the altered data havebeen stored in temporary sectors of the temporary data area and thedirty sectors have been recorded in the dirty sector index table. Thus,in steps S801 and S802, the client computer will consult the dirtysector index table and read the directories and read the VM FAT tablefrom the temporary sectors as appropriate.

The client computer then analyzes this directory entry in a series ofsteps. Specifically, the client determines whether it is a new foldercreated by the server during VM access (step S803). To determine whetherthe directory entry is a new folder, the client computer compares thedirectory entry with entries stored in the file-cluster index tablewhich is created at the time of mounting and is not changed during VMaccess. If the directory entry is a new folder (“Y” in step S803), theclient computer creates a new folder in the actual file system at theappropriate location (i.e. subfolders) (step S804). The creation offolders may be performed by the client's operating system in aconventional way. The client computer further obtains all of thedirectory entries contained in this folder by reading the content of thedirectory entry being analyzed (step S805), adds these directory entriesto a list of directory entries to be analyzed, then goes back to stepS802 to analyze the next directory entry.

In step S803, if the entry is not a new folder (“N” in step S803), theclient determines whether it is an old folder (i.e. one that existed atthe time of mounting), again using the file-cluster index table (stepS806). If it is (“Y” in step S806), the client obtains all of thedirectory entries in this folder (step S805), adds these directoryentries to the list of directory entries to be analyzed, then goes backto step S802 to analyze the next directory entry. By steps S801-S806,eventually all directory entries in the source folder are examined.Thus, steps S801 and S805 function to collect all data files andsubdirectories of the source folder for analysis.

In step S806, if the entry is not an old folder (“N” in step S806), theclient determines if the entry is a new file created by the serverduring VM access (step S807). Again, the file-cluster index table isused to make this determination. If it is (“Y” in step S807), the clientcopies the file to the actual file system at the appropriate location(step S808). This step includes creating a directory entry for the filein the actual file system and writing the data sectors of the file tothe actual file system. When performing the copying, the client readsthe sectors of the file from the temporary data area, using the VM FATtable and the dirty sector index table to determine where in the VM filesystem and the temporary data area the sectors are located.

In step S807, if the entry is not a new file (“N” in step S807), theclient determines whether the entry is an old file (i.e. one thatexisted at the time of mounting), again using the file-cluster indextable (step S809). If it is an old file (“Y” in step S809), the clientdetermines whether the file has been changed in either its properties orits content (step S810). In this step, the client compares theproperties of the file stored in the file-cluster index table with thenew properties of the file stored in VM directory area, and consultsfile-cluster index table and the dirty sector index table to determinewhether its content has changed. If the VM clusters assigned to thefile, as stored in the FAT table, include dirty sectors that appear inthe dirty sector index table, then the file content has been changed.

In steps S803, S806, S807 and S809 described above, the file-clusterindex table is used to determine whether the entry is a new folder, oldfolder, new file, old file, etc. Alternatively, a separate directorytree structure may be used to perform these steps. The directory treeonly contains the path and name for each file and subfolder in theoriginal folder, and uses a tree structure to store the information. Thedirectory tree is built at the time the virtual drive is created (e.g.at the same time the file-cluster index table is created), and is notmodified during VM access. Compare to the file-cluster index table,which is in a table form, the tree structure of the directory treeimproves the performance of steps S803, S806, S807 and S809, especiallywhen a large number of entries exist in the original folder. Moregenerally, the file-cluster index table, or the file-cluster index tableand the directory tree, may be referred to as an initial-state datastructure which stores the initial state (filename and path, initialassignment of VM clusters, properties) of the files and subdirectoriesof the source folder at the time of folder mounting.

Typically, when the file content is changed, the entire file is changedand needs to be copied back to the actual file system. If only the fileproperties have change and the file content has not, then only the fileproperties needs to be copied back to the actual file system. If thefile has changed (“Y” in step S810), the client copies all of thechanges back to actual file system. What is actually copied back dependson what has been changed. Unchanged data area not copied back.

After the copy steps S808 and S811, or when there is no change in theold file (“N” in step S810), or the directory entry is not an old file(“N” in step S809), the process goes back to step S802 to analyze thenext directory entry, until all directory entries in the directoryregion of the VM file system have been analyzed (“Y” in step S812).After all directory entries have been analyzed, the client computerdetermines if any files and folders have been deleted by the serverduring the VM access (step S813). As explained earlier, during VMaccess, the files and folders in the actual file system are not modifiedand not deleted, but the directory entries for these files and foldersin the VM file system of the virtual drive have been deleted. All filesand folders existing at the time of mounting are recorded in thefile-cluster index table. Therefore, by analyzing the VM file system,the client computer determines which files and folders listed in thefile-cluster index table no longer exist in the VM file system. Theclient computer then deletes these files and folders from the sourcefolder of the actual drive (step S813). This completes the write-backfunctions.

From the above description, it can be seen that data written to thevirtual media is written back to the actual file system of the storagedevice only after the virtual media is unmounted (i.e. disconnected).

Using the folder-mount technology described herein, any folder orfolders on the storage device 14 can be mounted as a virtual drive onthe server computer 40; multiple folders may be mounted as multiplevirtual drives.

Further, network-shared folders on the client computer 10, i.e. folderslocated on another computer connected to the client computer 10 by a LANor WAN, can be mounted on the server computer 40 as a virtual drive. Thetechnology for sharing folders among computers connected by a LAN or WANis well known and will not be described in more detail here. To mount anetwork-shared folder of the client computer 10 on the server computer40, the same processes described in FIGS. 4-8 are performed. Asdescribed earlier, when the client creates the VM file system and readsdata from the actual file system during VM access, the VM managementsoftware 12 uses the client's OS to read data from and write data to theactual file system on the storage device 40. In other words, the VMmanagement software 12 interacts with the actual file system through theclient's OS. Since the OS can handle reading and writing of anetwork-shared folder, the operation of the VM management software 12 isthe same regardless of whether the source folder to be mounted on theserver 40 is a network-shared folder or a folder of a physical storagedevice attached to the client 10. In this disclosure, the term storagedevice 14 can generally cover network-shared folders in addition tophysical storage devices attached to the client computer 10.

The folder-mount method described above is applicable regardless of thefile system of the storage device 14. For example, the file system ofthe storage device 14 may be NTFS, FAT 16, FAT 32, etc. Because the VMmanagement software 12 interacts with the actual file system of thestorage device 14 through the client's OS, the VM management software 12is not concerned with the actual file system of the storage device 14 solong as it can correctly request the OS to read specified information.

The VM file system created by the VM management software 12 may be anysuitable file system provided that the computer module 30 can interactwith the VM file system. For example, the VM file system is not limitedto a virtual FAT file system. In the virtual FAT file system describedherein, the directories store the starting virtual cluster index of eachdirectory entry (file or subdirectory) and the virtual FAT table storesthe cluster indices of the subsequent clusters for the files, so thatthe directories and the VM FAT table together describe the sequence ofvirtual clusters assigned to each file in the source folder. Other VMfile system may be used, so long as the VM file system contains VM indexinformation that describe the sequence of virtual clusters assigned toeach file in the source folder. Unlike the actual file system, the VMfile system does not include the clusters that store the actual datafiles.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates the command (which includes any data asappropriate) transmitted between various components of the IKVM system(refer to FIG. 1) during virtual media access. In this example, thevirtual drive has been mounted on the server computer, and the user atthe client computer 10 controls the server computer 40 via the IKVMswitch 20, and controls the server 40 to access the virtual drive. Thesesteps are generally similar to the steps of virtual media access inconventional IKVM virtual media systems, except that the virtual mediahas been folder-mounted instead of drive-mounted.

In the example of FIG. 9, the user sends a keyboard or mouse command tothe operating system of the server computer 40 (“target OS”), via theIKVM switch 20 and the computer module 30, to browse a directory of thevirtual drive. As explained earlier, the client computer 10 and the IKVMswitch 20 communicate using a network protocol such as TCP/IP. The OS ofthe server computer 40 sends a disk I/O command (include any data asappropriate) to the computer module (“USB dongle” in this example) 30 toaccess the drive. Most operating systems usually use SCSI command setsto perform USB Disk I/O functions, so the disk I/O command here may beSCSI commands.

As explained earlier, the computer module 30 emulates a USB mass storagedevice for the server 40, and command (including data) transfer betweenthe computer module 30 and the server computer 40 is done using the USBprotocol. The computer module 30 sends a SCSI command (include any dataas appropriate) to the IKVM switch 20. If the disk I/O commands from theserver 40 are SCSI commands, then the computer module 30 may simplyforward them to the KVM switch 20. As explained earlier, the computermodule 30 communicates with the IKVM switch 20 using an internalcommunication protocol, which is the SCSI standard in this example. TheIKVM switch 20 sends a virtual drive command (include any data asappropriate) to client computer 10. The virtual drive commands betweenthe IKVM switch 20 and the client 10 may use a proprietary formatdefined by the manufacturers.

The KVM management software 11 of the client computer 10 transfers thecommand to the virtual media management software 12, which performs theappropriate steps (e.g. the processes shown in FIGS. 5-7, in particular,the read sector function shown in FIG. 6). The KVM management software11 and the virtual media management software 12 collectively correspondto the “Client AP” (client application program) in FIG. 9. The client APsends a command response, including any data read from the virtualand/or actual drive, to the IKVM switch 20. The IKVM switch 20 sends aSCSI command reply, including any data, to the computer module 30, andthe computer module 30 sends a disk I/O command reply (which may be aSCSI command reply), including any data, to the OS of the servercomputer 40. Then, the server computer 40 transmits the result of thebrowse as displayed on the server's desktop, in the form of video data,to the client 10 via the computer module 30 and the IKVM switch 20. TheIKVM management software 11 displays the video data on the monitor ofthe user interface devices 15 of the client computer 10.

Similarly (not shown), when the user at the client computer 10 wishes tocontrol the server 40 to open a file from the virtual drive, the clientcomputer sends an open file command to the server 40 via the IKVM switch20. In this case, the commands sent from the IKVM switch 20 to theclient AP will be read virtual drive sector commands, and the client APwill return the data read from the appropriate sector to the IKVM switch20. Likewise (not shown), when the user at the client computer 10 wishesto control the server computer 40 to store a file to the virtual drive,the client computer sends an save file command to the server computer 40via the IKVM switch 20. In this case, the commands sent from the IKVMswitch 20 to the client AP will be write virtual drive sector commands,and the IKVM will also sends the data for the sector to the client AP.

Although in above examples the computer module 30 emulates a USB massstorage device to the server computer 40, the computer module 30 mayemulate a storage device complying with other standard protocols.

In the IKVM system shown in FIG. 1, the server computer 40, the computermodule 30, the IKVM switch 20, and the KVM management software 11 of theclient 10 may be the same as the corresponding components in aconventional IKVM switch system having disk-mount virtual mediafunctions. The folder-mount aspects of the virtual media functionsaccording to embodiments of the present invention are accomplished bythe virtual media management software 12 of the client computer 10.

Further, although the system of FIG. 1 has an IKVM switch 20 which isconnected to the server computer 40 by a computer module 30, the VMaccess functions of the computer module 30 and the IKVM switch 20described above can be performed by any module having appropriatehardware and firmware/software to perform these VM access functions.Such a module, referred to as a VM access control module forconvenience, may be a module physically separated from the servercomputer 40 and connected between the server 40 and the network 100, orit may be a part of the server computer 40. From the viewpoint of theclient 10, the VM access control module is a device located on thenetwork 100 that sends virtual drive commands (as described above) tothe client and receives command response from the client. From theviewpoint of the OS of the server 40, the VM access control moduleappears to be a virtual drive and can receive disk I/O commands from theserver computer 40 and provide reply to the disk I/O commands.

In the embodiments described above, one folder (including itssubfolders) in the storage device 14 attached to the client computer 10can be presented to the server computer 40 as one virtual storage device42. Using this method (referred to as single-folder mount), if multiplefolders that are not subfolders of each other (herein referred to asindependent folders) are to be presented to the server computer 40, thenthey will be presented as corresponding multiple virtual storagedevices. When USB protocol is used to transfer data between client 10and the server 40, each virtual storage device will require one USBendpoint to be emulated by the computer module 30. Due to resource (e.g.buffer) limitations of the computer module 30, the number of endpointsit can emulate is typically limited. As a result, the number ofindependent folders from the storage device 14 that can be mounted onthe server 40 is limited.

A further embodiment of the present invention expands the single-foldermount method described above, and allows multiple independent folders(i.e. folders that are not subfolders of each other) on one or morestorage devices attached to the client computer 10 to be presented tothe server 40 as content of one virtual storage device. This embodiment,referred to as multiple-folder mount, is described below with referenceto FIGS. 10 and 8 a.

FIG. 10 illustrates an IKVM system with virtual media capabilities thatimplements multiple-folder mount. Components 11, 13, 15, 20, 30, 31, 40and 41 are similar or identical to the corresponding components inFIG. 1. Note that a dashed box is drawn around components 20 and 30 toindicate that their functionalities can be implemented in one physicaldevice, as mentioned earlier with reference to FIG. 1. The virtual mediamanagement software 112 implements functions similar to thecorresponding virtual media management software 12 of FIG. 1, andfurther implements multiple-folder mount functions as will be describedin more detail below. Client computer 110 is otherwise similar to clientcomputer 10 but implements virtual media management software 112 ratherthan virtual media management software 12. As illustrated in FIG. 10,multiple storage devices 14-i, for example 14-1 to 14-4 as shown, areattached to the client computer 110. Similar to the storage device 14 ofFIG. 1, each storage device 14-i may be a hard disk drive (HDD), CD/DVDROM, flash drive, floppy disk drive, network-shared device, etc. and maybe connected to the client 110 by any suitable means. Each storagedevice 14-i may have multiple folders and subfolders in its file system,as schematically illustrated in FIG. 10. Multiple folders from one ormore of the storage devices 14-i, e.g. folders F1 to F6 (schematicallyindicated with thicker borders, and referred to as source folders forconvenience), are selected and presented to the server 40 as multiplecorresponding folders (referred to as target folders for convenience)under a root directory on one virtual storage device 142. Each targetfolder is presented as having the entire content of the correspondingsource folder.

Individual files can be mounted along with folders as well. Thus, itshould be understood that in FIG. 10, objects F1, F2, etc. can beindividual files or folders. The descriptions below use folders asexamples. More generally, files and folders may also be referred to asobjects.

It should be noted that the selected source folders on the storagedevices 14-i can be folders at different levels, even though they areshown in FIG. 10 as being at the same level for simplicity. For example,folder F2 may be a subfolder of a folder that is at the same level asfolder F1. However, these folders are not subfolders of each other intheir native file system.

It should also be noted that on the virtual storage device 142, thetarget folders (e.g. F1 to F6) do not have to be directly below the rootfolder. For example, it is possible to establish an intermediate folderunder the root folder and make the target folders F1 to F6 subfolders ofthat intermediate folder. It is even possible to create a more complexfolder structure with multiple intermediate folders at various levels tocontain the various target folders. Such intermediate folders will notcorrespond to actual locations on the actual file systems 14-i. Use ofsuch intermediate folders is not preferred as it increases complexity,but is nevertheless within the scope of this embodiment. In the examplesdescribed below, the target folders are directly under the rootdirectory on the virtual storage device 142.

The folder mounting and virtual media access process shown in FIGS. 4-8and the various data structures shown in FIGS. 3 a-3 d can be applied tothe multiple-folder mount embodiment with the following modifications.

FIG. 4 is modified so that there are multiple actual file systems 405,corresponding to the multiple storage devices 14-i of FIG. 10. The datastructures 406, 407 and 408 may reside in any one of the actual filesystems 405 or some other storage device connected to the client 110. Inmodified step S401, the user selects multiple folders to be mounted (thesource folders) and issue a mount command. A suitable user interface(UI) may be provided by the client computer 110 via the user interfacedevice 15 to allow the user to browse the file structure on the storagedevices 14-i and to select the folders to be mounted.

In modified step S402, upon receiving the mount command which indicatesthe selected multiple source folders, the client computer 110 gathersinformation about the selected multiple source folders from the actualfile systems 405. In modified step S403, the analysis of the gatheredinformation and the generation of the VM FAT table, VM root directory,VM subdirectories, and the file-cluster index table are similar to theoriginal step S403, but the VM file system generated in this step is onethat contains, under the root directory, multiple folders eachcorresponding to a source folder. As mentioned earlier, intermediatefolders may be used but they are not preferred. The modified step S403is slightly more complicated than in a simple-folder mount case becauseat least one additional layer of folder needs to be created and becauseof the need to arrange information about multiple source folders thatare independent (i.e. not subfolders of each other). The data structuresshown in FIGS. 3 a-3 d remain unchanged except to reflect the fact thatthe VM file system now contains multiple folders under the root folderthat correspond to the multiple source folders. In addition, in thefile-cluster index table (FIG. 3 c), the filename and path will nowreflect the fact that the files and folders may originate from differentdrives attached to the client 110, and therefore the drive letters willbe appropriately identified in the file-cluster index table.

The various processes shown in FIGS. 5-8 (e.g. read, write, write back)remain unchanged except for the following regarding write back (FIG. 8).If the server 40 created new folders and/or files directly under theroot directory (or an intermediate directory mentioned earlier) of thevirtual storage device 142, then such new folders and/or files do notcorrespond to any particular location in any one of the actual filesystems 405. In such a case, the client 110 may prompt the user of theserver 40 (or of the client 110) to specify a desired location on adesired one of the actual file systems where the new folder and/or fileshould be written back to. To aid the user in making a proper choice,the prompt may inform the user of the identity of the actual filesystems that the source folders belong to. In one implementation, ifmultiple new folders and/or files are created under the root directory(or intermediate directories) of the virtual storage device 142, theuser is prompted once and all such new folders and/or files are writtenback to the one location specified by the user.

These steps can be added to FIG. 8 as shown in FIG. 8 a. After step S802of FIG. 8, the client 110 determines whether the entry to be writtenback is a new folder or new file created under the root directory (or anintermediate directory) (step S814). If no, the process continues tostep S803. If yes, the client prompts the user to specify a desiredlocation in a desired actual file system (step S815), and then continuesto step S803. In steps S803 and S807, it should be understood that theinquiry is whether the entry is a new folder or new file created under afolder that is not the root directory or an intermediate directory.

While the description above focuses on folder mount, individual files onthe storage devices 14-1, etc. on the client 110 can be presented to theserver 40 in the same manner as folders. The mounting and access methodsdescribed above apply to files. Stated more generally, selected objectson storage devices 14-i can be presented to the server 40 in the mannersdescribed above, and each object can be either a folder or a file.

Advantages of the folder-mount method described herein include enhancedflexibility, compatibility, safety, reliability, and security. It allowsthe user of client computer to flexibly allow the server to access somebut not all of the contents on the entire physical storage device,thereby protecting the confidentiality and security of data on thephysical drive. It significantly reduces or eliminates the risk ofcrashing the physical storage device during a write operation. It cansupport virtual media function when the physical storage device and thevirtual drive use different file systems (for example, the physicalstorage device uses a NTFS while the virtual drive uses FAT16).

Although the virtual media method is described herein in an IKVM switchsystem, more generally, it can be applied to any system where a serveris remotely accessed from a client computer via a network using anetwork protocol (e.g. TCP/IP). Once logged in to the server, the remoteclient can exchange keyboard, video and mouse signals with the serverand control the server. The folder-mount virtual media method describedherein can be applied to such a server-client system. It should be notedthat the “server” and “client” designations are used for convenienceonly and do not require the two computers to have any particularcharacteristics.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) forinitiating VM mounting. The GUI is implemented by the virtual mediamanagement software module 12 and is displayed on the monitor of theuser interface devices 15 of the client computer 10/110. FIG. 11 shows adesktop image 1100 of the client computer 10/110, and two windows 1101and 1102 are shown on the desktop 1100. The first window 1101 (referredto herein as the source window) is a window generated by the operatingsystem (OS) of the client computer 10/110 for managing files; forexample, it may be a Windows Explorer™ window generated by a Windows™OS, or a Finder window generated by a Mac OS. The second window 1102(referred to herein as the destination window) contains a desktop imageof the server computer 40; it is generated by the IKVM managementsoftware 11 on the client computer 10/110. The structure and method thatachieve desktop viewing of the server computer 40 by the client computer10 is described in detail earlier; any other suitable methods of achievedesktop sharing may be used as well.

FIG. 11 schematically shows multiple objects contained in the sourcewindow 1101, such as files, folders, ISO image files (archive files ofoptical discs), disk drives, etc. These are different types of objectsthat are managed by the OS, and are objects that can be mounted on theserver computer using the methods described above.

In operation, to mount one or more objects, the user opens the sourcewindow 1101 on the client computer 10/110, where various objects areshown. Using a pointing tool of the user interface devices 15, such as amouse or touch screen, the user drags and drops selected object(s) fromthe source window 1101 into the destination window 1102. Drag-and-dropis accomplished in a conventional way; for example, when using a mouse,it is done by placing the mouse cursor over an object, pressing a buttonon the mouse, moving the mouse cursor to a desired location whilekeeping the button pressed, and releasing the button at the desiredlocation. Note that the object(s) can be dropped anywhere in thedestination window 1102. Also note that the objects will not disappearfrom the source window 1101 after the drag and drop operation. Thedrag-and-drop operation implements step S401 shown in FIG. 4, i.e. theinitiation of the virtual media mounting process, including issuing themount command. The VM mounting process shown in FIG. 4 is carried outupon the user's drag-and-drop operation.

To mount a single object, the user simply drags and drops the object.For example, when using a mouse as the pointing tool, the user positionsthe mouse cursor over the object, presses a mouse button and moves themouse cursor while keeping the button pressed down (an animated effectmay be generated, whereby a representation of the object moves with themouse cursor), and releases the button when the mouse cursor is locatedat a desired location (e.g. inside the destination window 1102). Touchscreen operation is similar; the user touches the object with a finger(or stylus), moves the finger while keeping in touch with the screen,and releases the finger when the object is located at a desiredlocation.

To mount multiple objects, the user selects the multiple objects. Forexample, when using a mouse, the user can draw an area in the sourcewindow 1101 to include the desired objects, or click on desired objectsin turn while holding down a keyboard key (e.g. control key), etc. Theuser then use the drag-and-drop technique described above to drag anddrop the selected multiple objects into the destination window 1102.

In an alternative drag-and-drop implementation, if the destinationwindow 1102 (server desktop) is not open on the client's desktop 1100(e.g., it may be minimized), the drag-and-drop operation will cause thewindow 1102 to open. Specifically, an icon representing the servercomputer 40 is displayed in the client desktop window 1100, for example,in a task bar typically located at the bottom of the window 1100 (notshown in FIG. 11). When the user performs the drag-and-drop, the userfirst drags the selected object(s) over this icon. While the mousecursor is located over the icon and the mouse button is still pressed,the server desktop window 1102 will open. This automatic opening of thewindow 1102 is implemented in some conventional operating systems. Then,while still keeping the mouse button pressed, the user moves theselected object(s) to the window 1102 which is now open, and drops theobject(s) there.

As a result of the drag-and-drop operation, the selected object(s) aremounted on the server 40 as virtual media by a method described indetail above. Specifically, if only one object (e.g. one folder or onefile) is dragged and dropped, this folder or file is mounted on theserver 40 in a way that it will appear as a local drive on the server;if multiple objects (e.g. folders and files, but excluding ISO imagefiles) are dragged and dropped, the multiple objects are mounted on theserver 40 in a way that they will appear as folders and files under theroot directory (or an intermediate directory) of a local drive on theserver. If the selected object is an ISO image file, it will be mountedto appear as a local CD-ROM on the server 40.

After the drag-and-drop, a file management window 1103 showing storagedevices of the server computer (e.g. a Windows Explorer window showingthe content of “My Computer” or “Computer”) will be open in the server'sdesktop window 1102, unless it is already open; and a new drive (or newCD-ROM) corresponding to the mounted VM content will be shown in thewindow 1103. Such window 1103 may be automatically opened afterdrag-and-drop, to allow the user to explore and access the content ofthe new drive. In an alternative implementation, after drag-and-drop, apop up window 1104 may appear on the desktop window 1102 of the serverto notify the user that a removable disk (a local drive) has beenattached to the server and to ask the user to take an action, such as“Open folder to view files,” etc. This popup window may be similar tothe conventional “AutoPlay” popup window that appears on a desktop whena USB storage device is plugged into a Windows computer. Using thispopup window, the user can open a file management window 1103 to exploreand access the content of the drive. In another alternativeimplementation, the new drive (or new CD-ROM) corresponding to themounted VM content will be displayed directly in the server computer'sdesktop window 1102, without the window 1103.

It is noted that in the drag-and-drop operation of the embodiment ofFIG. 11, the user is not required to first select a destination locationon the server computer for the drag-and-drop operation. The user simplyneeds to drop the object(s) into the desktop window 1102 of the servercomputer.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown in the drawings), the desktopwindow 1102 for the server computer is not already open; rather, an iconthat represents the server computer is displayed in the client's desktop1100. When performing the drag-and-drop, the user drags the selectedobjects until they (or the cursor) overlap the icon for the servercomputer, and drops the objects. In response to the drag-and-drop, theserver desktop window 1102 will be opened, and the new drive (or newCD-ROM) corresponding to the mounted VM content will be displayed in it(without the window 1103).

It can be seen that in the above embodiment shown in FIG. 11, thedrag-and-drop operation has a different effect than conventionaldrag-and-drop operations. In a conventional drag-and-drop operation,after the object is dragged and dropped from a source location to adestination location, the nature of the object, and therefore itsappearance, remains the same as before the drag-and-drop. For example,when transferring files between two computers using a USB file transfercable device, some applications allows the user to initiate filetransfer using a drag-and-drop operation. In one example, the window ofthe file transfer application has two distinct window areas to displaythe contents of the two respective computers, and the user can drag anddrop files from one window area to the other. However, the nature of theobjects being transferred remains the same on the destination computeras on the source computer. The appearance of the object(s), i.e. theicon used to represent them, in the destination location is unchangedfrom their original appearance (icon) in the source location. Similareffects are seen in Windows OS when files/subfolders are dragged from asource folder and dropped into a destination folder to perform a copy ormove operation. In the above embodiment of the present invention, on theother hand, the nature of the object changes after the drag-and-drop: afolder on the client becomes a drive on the server, or multiple foldersor files on the client collectively become a drive on the server, or anISO file on the client becomes a CD-ROM drive on the server, etc.Correspondingly, the appearance of the object(s), i.e. the icon used torepresent them, in the destination location (server) is different fromtheir original appearance (icon) in the source location (client).

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates another GUI for initiating VMmounting. The client computer's desktop 1100A has a file managementwindow 1101A generated by the operating system (OS) of the clientcomputer 10/110 and containing multiple objects such as files, folders,ISO image files, disk drives, etc. When the user right-clicks on aselected object (or a group of multiple selected objects) using apointing tool, a popup menu 1106 (which may contain multiple levels ofmenu items) appears on the client's desktop 1100A, and contains one ormore items representing actions that can be taken by the user. One ofthe action items is a VM mount command which specifies a destinationserver. Once the user clicks on the VM mount command in the popup menu1106, the VM mounting process is initiated. In other words, clicking onthe VM mount command in the popup menu 1106 implements step S401 shownin FIG. 4. As a result, the VM mounting process shown in FIG. 4 iscarried out.

In one implementation, the popup menu 1106 is a modified version of aright-click popup menu implemented in Windows Explorer™. In existingversion of such a right-click popup menu, the first level menu includesa “Send to” item which expands to contain items such as “Compressed(zipped) folder,” “Desktop (create shortcut),” “Document,” “Faxrecipient,” etc. In this implementation of the embodiment, the secondlevel of this popup menu is modified to additionally include an itemthat identifies the server computer 40. In the illustrated example ofFIG. 12, the item “KN4140_(—)[21]12345PC” in the popup menu identifiesthe server. In this embodiment, when a server 40 is connected to theclient 10 via operation of the IKVM switch 20, the virtual mediamanagement software module 12 modifies the popup menu to add theidentity of the server 40.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodification and variations can be made in the folder-mount virtualmedia method and apparatus of the present invention without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that thepresent invention cover modifications and variations that come withinthe scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A virtual media operation method implemented in aclient computer for allowing a server computer to access one or morestorage devices of the client computer, comprising: (a) controlling, viaa network, a virtual media access control module which is connected to aUSB port of the server computer; (b) controlling the server computer viathe virtual media access control module; (c) displaying a first windowon a desktop of the client computer, the first window containing one ormore objects; (d) receiving a user input, which effects a selection ofone or more objects in the first window and a drag-and-drop operation ofthe selected objects, wherein the drag-and-drop operation drags theselected objects from the first window and drops them onto arepresentation of the server computer displayed on the desktop of theclient computer; (e) in response to the user input, generating a virtualmedia file system to present the selected objects to the server computeras objects on a local removable drive of the server computer, withoutpresenting other unselected contents of the one or more storage devicesto the server computer, and displaying on the desktop of the clientcomputer a second window representing a desktop of the server computer,the second window containing a representation of the local removabledrive which contains the objects; and (f) allowing the server computerto access the selected objects on the client computer using the secondwindow.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each object in the firstwindow represents a file, a folder or a drive on a storage device of theclient computer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (d), therepresentation of the server computer is the same as the second windowrepresenting the desktop of the server computer displayed in step (e).4. The method of claim 3, wherein in step (d), the user input furthereffects an opening of the second window.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein in step (d), the representation of the server computer is anicon which represents the server computer and which is different fromthe second window in step (f).
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein step(b) includes: receiving an image signal from the virtual media accesscontrol module, the image signal having been obtained by the virtualmedia access control module from the server computer via an image signaloutput interface of the server computer; displaying the second windowrepresenting the desktop of the server computer based on the imagesignal received from the virtual media access control module; andtransmitting a user control signal to the server computer via thevirtual media access control module to control the server computer. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the user input in step (d) comprises aseries of input signals including: a signal representing positioning acursor of a pointing tool over the one or more objects to select them; asignal representing a key press on the pointing tool; a signalrepresenting moving the pointing tool while the key is pressed; and asignal representing releasing the key when the cursor is located in thesecond window.
 8. A virtual media operation method implemented in aclient computer for allowing a server computer to access one or morestorage devices of the client computer, comprising: (a) controlling, viaa network, a virtual media access control module which is connected to aUSB port of the server computer; (b) controlling the server computer viathe virtual media access control module; (c) displaying a first windowon a desktop of the client computer, the first window containing one ormore objects; (d) receiving a first user input which effects a selectionof one or more objects in the first window; (e) receiving a second userinput which is a virtual media mount command for mounting the objectsselected in step (d) on the server computer; (f) in response to thesecond user input, generating a virtual media file system to present theselected objects to the server computer as objects on a local removabledrive of the server computer, without presenting other unselectedcontents of the one or more storage devices to the server computer, anddisplaying on the desktop of the client computer a second windowrepresenting a desktop of the server computer, the second windowcontaining a representation of the local removable drive which containsthe objects; and (g) allowing the server computer to access the selectedobjects on the client computer using the second window.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein each object in the first window represents a file, afolder or a drive on a storage device of the client computer.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein step (b) includes: receiving an image signalfrom the virtual media access control module, the image signal havingbeen obtained by the virtual media access control module from the servercomputer via an image signal output interface of the server computer;displaying the second window representing the desktop of the servercomputer based on the image signal received from the virtual mediaaccess control module; and transmitting a user control signal to theserver computer via the virtual media access control module to controlthe server computer.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the user inputin step (e) is a selection from a popup menu displayed on the desktop ofthe client computer.
 12. A computer program product comprising acomputer usable non-transitory medium having a computer readable programcode embedded therein for controlling a client computer, the clientcomputer being connected to a server computer via a virtual media accesscontrol module over a network, the computer readable program codeconfigured to cause the client computer to execute a virtual mediaoperation method for allowing the server computer to access one or morestorage devices of the client computer, the process comprising: (a)controlling, via a network, a virtual media access control module whichis connected to a USB port of the server computer; (b) controlling theserver computer via the virtual media access control module; (c)displaying a first window on a desktop of the client computer, the firstwindow containing one or more objects; (d) receiving a user input, whicheffects a selection of one or more objects in the first window and adrag-and-drop operation of the selected objects, wherein thedrag-and-drop operation drags the selected objects from the first windowand drops them onto a representation of the server computer displayed onthe desktop of the client computer; (e) in response to the user input,generating a virtual media file system to present the selected objectsto the server computer as objects on a local removable drive of theserver computer, without presenting other unselected contents of the oneor more storage devices to the server computer, and displaying on thedesktop of the client computer a second window representing a desktop ofthe server computer, the second window containing a representation ofthe local removable drive which contains the objects; and (f) allowingthe server computer to access the selected objects on the clientcomputer using the second window.
 13. The computer program product ofclaim 12, wherein each object in the first window represents a file, afolder or a drive on a storage device of the client computer.
 14. Thecomputer program product of claim 12, wherein in step (d), therepresentation of the server computer is the same as the second windowrepresenting the desktop of the server computer displayed in step (e).15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein in step (d), theuser input further effects an opening of the second window.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 12, wherein in step (d), therepresentation of the server computer is an icon which represents theserver computer and which is different from the second window in step(f).
 17. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein step (b)includes: receiving an image signal from the virtual media accesscontrol module, the image signal having been obtained by the virtualmedia access control module from the server computer via an image signaloutput interface of the server computer; displaying the second windowrepresenting the desktop of the server computer based on the imagesignal received from the virtual media access control module; andtransmitting a user control signal to the server computer via thevirtual media access control module to control the server computer. 18.The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the user input in step(d) comprises a series of input signals including: a signal representingpositioning a cursor of a pointing tool over the one or more objects toselect them; a signal representing a key press on the pointing tool; asignal representing moving the pointing tool while the key is pressed;and a signal representing releasing the key when the cursor is locatedin the second window.